On Tuesday, Coughlin expressed his frustration with Nicks missing practice due to tightness in his groin. This, after Nicks missed a large portion of the offseason program for undisclosed reasons.

On Thursday, Coughlin pulled back a bit, saying that he understood why Nicks needed to sit out while still stressing the importance of practice.

Yesterday, Nicks said that the entire ordeal should be over in a day or two. He’ll practice when he’s cleared and speaks about his progress with Coughlin, who confirmed that Nicks should be back within the next two days.

"We talk daily about it, I’m obviously going to respect his decisions as well, him being the head coach, but I’m going to respect our trainers’ decision as well because I know they know what they’re doing too," Nicks said.

So it goes with one of the more delicate situations the Giants most likely have to handle this season. If Nicks remains healthy, he can help propel the Giants offense much like he did during their Super Bowl run in 2011. If he cannot, the Giants will rely more on emerging second-year wideout Rueben Randle and Victor Cruz.

Underneath the surface lies Nicks understandably tricky situation. He is in a contract year, and although he did not bring it up during his first comments since being injured, he made reference to the "business side" of the game.

Getting injured would throw negotiations into a tailspin.

"I think if this happened last year, I would have just kept pushing my body through, pushing my body through," Nicks said. "But, being a little wiser and knowing the game a little bit now, knowing the business side of things, you just kind of want to be smart. At the same time, you don’t want to take advantage of just not being able to practice and turning into a lazy factor, so that’s definitely not the case. We just want to be smart about it."

Nicks said he was aware of the hard-luck situations surrounding Jeremy Maclin and Dennis Pitta, two pass-catchers in contract years who suffered season-ending injuries during training camp already.

He knows those injuries were freak occurrences, and hesitated to call his groin issue an injury at all.

"That’s not something I really think about," Nicks said. "Prayers go out to them and for them to bounce back but that’s nothing I really think about. Football, you know, anything could go any day. As soon as you step out on the field, you’re at risk. That really doesn’t cross my mind."

While he waits to rejoin the Giants offense, a unit that also utilized Ramses Barden during practice yesterday, Nicks continues to roam around the sidelines in his baseball cap and shorts.

He brushed off the notion that he would have trouble re-connecting with Eli Manning after so much time apart and looked forward to the potential they all share when everyone is healthy.

Like Nicks said, everyone is on the same page now. And for now, despite everything that could be at stake, no one is worried.

"I don’t feel frustrated it all," Nicks said. "It’s only the second week of practice, coming off a season like last year, I’m definitely trying to be smart and I think the training staff is as well. I’m just taking it like that, I have no problem. Frustrated? Not at all."

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On a side note, I asked Nicks about the rash of preseason injuries to pass catchers in contract years. He said it's not impacting his decision to practice, and that he hasn't considered the heightened risk of an injury with the groin tightness.

"Hats off to those guys," he said. "Those guys are great athletes and I’m sorry that had to happen to them, especially at a critical moment in their careers. But that’s not something I really think about. Prayers go out to them and hopefully they bounce back from it, but I’m not really thinking about it. In football, anything can go any day, so every time you step on the field, you’re at risk."